More people working, more unemployed

More people had a job in the first three months of this year than in the comparable period last year, the National Statistics Office said.

It said that the Labour Force Survey showed that the number of employed people stood at 161,310 (157,777 in the same period last year), while the number of unemployed was estimated to be 11,265 (10,137 last year). Inactive persons numbered 176,387.

During the period under review, 58.7 percent of people aged 15 to 64 were working or unemployed. The highest activity rate among men was in the 25 to 54 age group, among women in the the 15 to 24 age group.

The majority of employed males were engaged in manufacturing activities (18 percent), followed by 16 percent in wholesale and retail trade.

In contrast, most of the employed female population were in education-related activities (17.1 percent), followed by 15.8 percent in the wholesale and retail trade sector.

The number of self-employed during the first quarter, was estimated to make up 14.5 percent of the employed population and the number of full-time employees stood at 143,893 or 89.2 percent of total employed persons.

More females were likely to have a part-time job or a full-time job with reduced hours when compared to males.

The average gross annual salary of employees was estimated to be €13,779. This was equivalent to a basic salary and excluded extras, such as overtime, bonuses and allowances.

Better-paid jobs were within the category of legislators, senior officials and managers whereas the financial intermediation sector recorded the highest average gross annual salary by economic activity.

The NSO said that between the first quarter of 2008 and 2009 there was no statistically significant change in the number of unemployed with the unemployment rate being 6.5 percent